China finally secured its first victory in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, prevailing over Angola on Thursday evening at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Kyle Anderson, making his debut for Team Dragon in this tournament, expressed his elation in contributing to his country’s triumph on the global stage.
This success came after a challenging campaign in the group stage, during which they faced defeat in all their matches in Group B.
“It feels great. It’s obviously been a tough road but we’ve been working hard so I think our guys deserve this. It’s a great win, I think our fans deserve it as well,” said Anderson, who has the Chinese name Li Kaier.
“Like you said, it was much-needed. We finally were able to play hard for 40 minutes. That’s very key to success and our victory here so we gotta go out and do it again against the Philippines,” he added.
The forward from the Minnesota Timberwolves displayed an all-around performance. He contributed 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block in China’s 83-76 triumph over Angola.
The significance of this victory for Team Dragon lies in the boost it provides in the competition to become the highest-ranked Asian team in the tournament. The top-ranked Asian squad secures the sole ticket to the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
Anderson emphasized that China is embracing a gradual approach, focusing on each step of the journey. This approach entails focusing on their upcoming match against the host team, the Philippines, on Saturday.
“We’re taking it one step at a time right now. We have to focus on what we gotta do with the Philippines and we’ll look at that picture (next).”
